


auspicious

by sannlykke



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Chinese New Year, Established Relationship, Future Fic, M/M, Treat Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 08:06:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13677666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sannlykke/pseuds/sannlykke
Summary: “It’s loud,” Tatsuya says, but Wei can barely hear him over the squawking of chickens and children tripping up alongside him in the crowd. The ground is still wet from the rain last night, turning the dirt road into a muddy mess. “You know, I kind of like it.”Wei takes Tatsuya home for the holidays.





	auspicious

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stephanericher](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stephanericher/gifts).



> ...:D

**market**

 

“It’s loud,” Tatsuya says, but Wei can barely hear him over the squawking of chickens and children tripping up alongside him in the crowd. The ground is still wet from the rain last night, turning the dirt road into a muddy mess. “You know, I kind of like it.”

“You do?”

Tatsuya smiles, indicating towards the rows upon rows of hawkers, scarlet and gold shimmering under the morning sunlight. The scent of fatty pork and dried herbs, along with dainty perfumed pouches, fill the air as much as the laughter of stray kids running underfoot.

“It’s like going to the craft markets back in LA.”

Wei’s only been to LA that one time, but he’s watched enough videos to kind of get Tatsuya’s drift. They hold hands as they step over the giant puddle blocking their way, and he laughs a little as he produces his mother’s shopping list out of his pocket. “I suppose you’re right.”

 

**red**

 

It’s not enough to decorate just the house, Wei’s found. Or at least, that’s what his relatives think.

“You…um…”

Tatsuya prods him encouragingly. “You can tell me if it looks bad, Wei.”

Leaving Tatsuya alone for even five minutes had been a mistake. By the time Wei had come back from dicing the vegetables, Tatsuya had already gone through a makeover courtesy of his aunt and cousin. Seems about right—they’re both graduating from college in a couple months, and still treated like children.

“Did they tell you this is what we do for the holidays.”

(Tatsuya really doesn’t look bad in all red, though the track pants make him pause.)

“This isn’t like, some sort of Chinese Santa, right?”

“…No.”

 

**lake**

 

“It’s really nice in the summer.”

“Yeah, I bet.”

Today the water is still and cold, but not yet dead—they’ve both been inundated in Akita weather for long enough that the chill here should feel like nothing, but that had also been nearly four years ago now. Tatsuya is still a bit jet-lagged from the cross-Pacific flight, three days into the trip, and he rests his head on Wei’s shoulder for a moment.

“Reminds me a bit of Tahoe,” Tatsuya says. The pine trees sway gently in the wind, showering them with dewdrops, and Wei pulls a branch down as Tatsuya bats it away towards his face. “Hey—“

“Don’t be childish,” Wei chides, but he knows he’s already in for it.

 

**lazy susan**

 

“Chicken?”

“No, he’s had enough.”

“How about some bok choy?”

“Grandma, it’s alright—“

“Wei, you really shouldn’t deny your guest—he’s so skinny! Here, Tatsuya, help yourself to some fish. This is the one you guys helped catch, you know.”

“…Grandma, _please_.”

 

**ink**

 

If there’s one thing he’s much better than Tatsuya at, it’s handwriting.

“That is…” Wei’s pause is dramatic enough to attract the attention of several children, who run towards their table in the front yard to see. “Okay, you’ve improved.”

He can’t tell whether or not Tatsuya’s expression is murderous; damn him. Even after so many years his perfect poker face never seems to fail. “The ink’s not black enough.”

“Did you add too much water?”

Tatsuya wrinkles his nose as he reaches for the inkstone again. “Maybe.”

This time he grinds it so heavily that Wei thinks the table might break in half. The children stand around them, eyes wide, watching as Wei continues his strokes down the satiny red paper. This time, he can feel Tatsuya’s eyes on him, but he doesn’t say anything until he has finished. Not even when the children start giggling about halfway in.

“I’m done too.”

Wei stares at his handiwork. “…That’s cheating.”

“Hey, it's a digital world now,” Tatsuya smirks, shoving the paper at him; Wei shakes his head. There, in bold, black strokes, is a stunningly accurate rendition of a firecracker emoji.

 

**lantern**

 

He’d see it on the news, sometimes: the number of people going home is dropping each year, despite the astronomical migratory numbers projected on big and small screens alike. Wei remembers when his grandpa used to make paper lanterns for the kids to run around in, but now most of them—him included—are content with running around in the dark with the light off their phones.

It’s not all bad, really.

“Remember when we went to that matsuri last year—”

“You caught so many goldfish,” Wei says. That had been sweltering summer, a far cry from the chill of the night. The lanterns lighting the main street here are as numerous, bright red and beautiful. In the dark Tatsuya takes his hand; nobody’s here to say anything now.

“You really don’t want to try your hand at mahjong?”

Tatsuya tilts his face up at him as they walk, the small smile building on his lips already warming up Wei’s ears. “I don’t want to mess it up.”

Wei shakes his head, curling his fingers around Tatsuya’s tighter. “You’ll do fine.”

(Fine, up until a drunken Tatsuya somehow swept the floor with everyone that night, but that’s a story for another day.)

 

**dance**

 

“It’s kinda hot in here.”

“You’re kinda hot,” Wei replies. Fuck it, maybe Tatsuya can’t even hear him over the noise of actual firecrackers and the stomping of other costumed animals up ahead. “Come on, let’s catch up.”

The problem with their height difference becomes somewhat less noticeable with both of them underneath the big, scratchy inside of the dragon costume. Normally it would be one of the temple tenders doing this, but two of them had somehow come down with food poisoning the night before.

(Wei still isn’t sure if it’s food poisoning, or just a case of wanting to see two city kids mess up the dance, but they’re already here.)

“We’re not the main show, so just do whatever.”

“Whatever, as in—Wei, don’t _you_ know how to breakdance?”

“…We’re not breakdancing in a two-person dragon costume.”

“Okay,” Tatsuya says, and he inches forward a little, never mind the right side of the costume collapsing a little on itself. “Let’s do this instead.”

Wei can only curse himself as he very definitively feels Tatsuya’s hand on his ass.

 

**fortune**

 

Wei’s never much believed in these things—most people his age don’t, or like to pretend they don’t. Maybe it’s a byproduct of being disconnected from the village all his life; growing up in the city two hours away and then in frozen Akita and then busy Tokyo, waiting for WeChat to load up on one device and Tatsuya’s face to appear on Skype on another. There’s no time for fortune-telling, for thinking about things he wants when he’s already fighting to keep them close.

Still, the quiet shrines near his dorms are a nice refuge from classwork and club activities, but they’ve never been the same as the ones here.

Here, he watches Tatsuya try his hand at throwing the moon-blocks, incense swirling around his head like he’s in the clouds with the gods themselves. Even his little brothers are quiet as they watch the blocks spin and shudder until they come to rest, one up, one down.

“That means good luck,” Wei finds himself saying, and with collective sigh of relief around the room, and the smile Tatsuya’s giving him, maybe he can start believing in such things again.


End file.
